'I'd be in jail or dead without a mentor'

Divine and Harvey attend free music and mentoring sessions aimed at improving young people's life chances

A 14-year-old boy has said that, without the guidance of his mentor, he would now either be in prison or dead.

Harvey, from Dudley, attends free music and mentoring sessions aimed at improving the life chances of young people who may get involved in gangs or knife crime.

The programme is run by Community Skills and Knowledge Network (CSKN), and funded by the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership.

There are "kids out there that don't have mentors and they're just getting into bare trouble," said Harvey, who added he felt "lucky" to have support.

The teenager was paired with CSKN mentor Chris Clacken in July, after being excluded from school.

"Chris is like a fallen angel. He saved our lives, because if we kept doing the things we were doing we'd have a higher chance of getting stabbed," said the 14-year-old.

Divine, a 15-year-old who also attends the programme, said: "There should be more mentors.

"I'm happy to have Chris in my life, because without Chris I'd just be getting into trouble with the police. He saved me. He is keeping kids out of jail.

"Every time I'm stuck with something he's there, he's there with advice and the advice he gives me actually works. We need more mentors like him."

Divine said there should be "more mentors" like Mr Clacken

Mr Clacken said he believed mentors such as himself were able to get through to young people and build a relationship by "being consistent".

He said: "The young people know we're always there, they call us and they know we're there for them.

"We're not there to just tell them off and tell them they're a naughty child, but let's try and understand why people think you're a naughty child."

He added: "As a mentor it's about going on a journey with a young person and that journey could be six weeks, six months and I've got young people I'm still in contact with six years later."

'We have some very strict rules'

Both Harvey and Divine attend a music project run by CSKN called Plain Speaking, designed to help young people to talk about their struggles and emotions.

Mr Clacken said: "There's a lot of youth violence out there... and there's a lot of young people arguing with each other over social media.

"There's a lot of young people who use music to get back at each other, which is why at Plain Speaking we have some very strict rules.

"There's no calling out anyone's name, there's no gang rivalry, there's no sending messages. It's about positive music and it's also about telling their story."

Rapper RA (Real Artillery) said he decided to help young people while he was in prison

The group have dinner before recording rap music in a purpose-built studio.

Young people are then guided by CSKN sound engineer Tony Osbourne and rapper and influencer RA (Real Artillery), whose real name is Josee Hylton-Reid.

The rapper started working with young people after being released from prison in 2017.

"Whilst I was in prison I said to myself, 'when I come out I'm going to help the young generation'," he said.

"Nowadays they're not going to listen to someone that hasn't been through it and they're going to take on more from someone who has."